teach the will doth euer follow the last iudgement and conclusion of the practicke reason and that which the minde by the aduise of reason iudgeth and determineth to be acted that must the will endeauour to act As if the minde resolue that our chiefest happines consisteth in the plentifull possession and fruition of all earthly profits and pleasures then will the will and affections be wholly set vpon earthly things but if it resolue that our highest happinesse and our chiefest good consisteth in our communion with God and in the cleere manifestation of his loue in Christ then will our hearts be lifted vp to God and fixed on Christ and settled vpon heauen and heauenly things For as Saint Austine saith free-will is a seruant to sinne or to grace An euill minde maketh an euill will a minde indued with grace communicateth grace to the will For doth folly set all things Mala mens malus animus out of frame and doth not wisedome frame and order all things aright Doth darknesse cause men to stumble and fall Iohn 11. 9. Heb. 3. 12. and doth not light keepe men vpright and preserue them from falling Doth infidelity withdraw mens hearts from God and corrupt their wils and affections and doth not faith ioyne men neerely vnto God and sanctifie their wils and affections with all manner of diuine and heauenly graces Wherefore as all carnall Gospellers and loose Libertines so our Romane Catholikes are greatly deceiued in that they thinke that a sauing and iustifying faith may stand with raigning sinnes for then should the selfe-same persons at the selfe-same time be the children of God in respect of their mindes sanctified with the knowledge of the truth and with sauing faith and the children of the Deuill in their wils being polluted with dominering sins but where sauing faith getteth the sure and safe possession of the minde it not only expelleth infidelity out of the castle of the vnderstanding but also casteth out all sinne and iniquity out of the forts of the will and affections that they shall no longer rule and raigne there For sauing faith doth regenerate vs and make vs the sons of God Gal. 3. 26. as the Apostle affirmeth and so reneweth vs to his image in holinesse and crue righteousnesse and therefore will not suffer vs to giue place to wilfull and raigning sinnes and presumptuous transgressions Whosoeuer saith Saint Iohn is borne 1 Iohn 3. 9. of God sinneth not for his seed remaineth in him neither can he sinne because he is borne of God that is whosoeuer is borne of God committeth no such sinnes whereby the Word of God is choaked and extinguished in him because it is an immortall seed which liueth and indureth for euer where it is 1 Pet. 1. 23. once rooted and settled neither can hee sinne because hee is borne of God That is sinne which is the worke of the Deuill cannot so farre forth preuaile as to annihilate his regeneration which is the worke of God because God is stronger then the Deuill and will maintaine his owne proper worke in his owne children against the malice and mischiefe of Satan For let the Deuill set his chiefest instruments on worke to draw Gods children from their faith and obedience to God yet they shall not finally preuaile against them So Saint Iohn Little children ye are of God and haue ouercome them for 1 Iohn 4. 4. greater is he that is in you then he that is in the world For albeit they be little and weake in themselues yet they are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and are enabled thereby to stand against all the assaults of the Deuill Ephes 6. 10. And verily he that truly beholdeth and duly considereth what this great dignity is to be translated out of the bondage of Satan into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God he cannot with purpose of heart serue sinne any longer and enthrall himselfe againe vnto the tyranny of Satan but he will resigne himselfe wholly ouer to God How can we saith the Aposte Rom. 6. 2. that are dead to sinne liue any longer therein When Ioseph that of a poore slaue being made chiefe ruler ouer all Gen. 39. 9. Fixum etenins quicu ique geret noâ— hunc â—go nolle crediderim Christo cum mâ—ricate mori Coster that great estate which his master was possessed withall was tempted by his lewd mistrisse to defile his masters bed How can I said he doe this wickednesse and sinne against God How much more then will all such as are indued with true Christian faith resolue and say when they duly consider their great dignity in that of the bondslaues of Satan they are made the sonnes of God and inheritours of the kingdome of heauen How can we giue ouer our selues to wilfull and presumptuous sinnes to the great dishonour of our louing and most gracious God who hath aduanced vs to so great dignity and honor Vndoubtedly they cannot but thus resolue with themselues their sure beleefe of so great a fauour throughly settled in their hearts will not suffer them to giue themselues ouer to the seruice of sinne but will cause them fully to resolue to continue and perseuere in constant and continuall obedience vnto God And in this respect the estate of all such as are reconciled vnto God by Christ albeit it be subiect to many infirmities is farre more happy then Adams was in his absolute and perfect purity For as Saint Austine saith the first liberty was a Aug. de corrept grat cap. 2. possibility not to sinne but ours is much greater being such as that we cannot possibly sinne that is giue our selues ouer to be bondslaues to raigning sinnes For to Adam was giuen grace to persist in grace if he would but to vs it is giuen that we be made willing and that by our will we conquer our concupiscence to him was giuen ability if he himselfe would haue vsed it but to vs is giuen not only to be able but also to be willing to vse our ability For the will of the Saints is so forcibly mooued by the Spirit of God that therefore they are able because they will and therefore they will because it is God that worketh in them that they be willing For if in so great infirmity wherein perfect vertue was requisite for the suppressing of pride they were left to their owne will that by the helpe of God they might persist if they would themselues and that God himselfe did not worke in them the very will that they would among so many and so great tentations the will by reason of her weaknesse would soone relent and giue ouer A remedy therefore was prouided for the infirmity of mans will that it should be so mooued by diuine grace that it should neuer decline or separate it selfe from the same and therefore albeit it were weake yet it should neuer vtterly faile Now that Saint Austine did
euerlasting is giuen vnto vs onely by Christ who is the true Manna that came downe from heauen and the very Bread of eternall life The which thing is repeated and inculcated againe and againe in the sixt of Saint Iohn that so we might be throughly perswaded Ioh. 6. 33. of the vndoubted truth thereof As likewise in Baptisme by Water being a most fit creature to cleanse our bodily vncleannesse is shewed and ratified vnto vs that it is the most pure and precious Bloud of Christ that is able to cleanse 1 Ioh. 1. 7. vs from all our sinnes which defile our soules Whosoeuer then ascribe our iustification and saluation not onely to Christ and his Bloud doe derogate from the testimonies of the holy Sacraments Yea they which ascribe these gracious blessings to the externall Sacramentall Elements which are the proper effects of the inuisible Grace signified by them doe as much as 1 Pet. 3. 21. in them lyeth cause these outward Elements to giue testimony flat contrary to that whereunto they were ordayned by Christ himselfe QVEST. XI The faithfull ought to be certainely assured of their owne saluation The Sacraments were not onely ordayned to shew and signifie vnto the faithfull that their iustification and saluation is onely by Christ but also to be seales of the same vnto them Rom 4. 11. and to giue them the assurance thereof in their owne hearts The which thing if it be true in the Sacraments of the Old Testament much more is it so in the sacraments of the New seeing they are instruments of greater grace The cup of blessing 1 Cor. 10. 16. saith the Apostle which we blesse is it not the Communion of the Bloud of Christ The Bread which we breake is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ That is ought not we that beleeue in Christ be as throughly perswaded of our spirituall participation of Christ the food of our soules and of eternall life in him by faith the mouth of our soules as wee are assured that we are partakers of the outward elements of Bread and Wine and of our bodily nourishment thereby in this temporall life and especially whereas the names of the outward signes are changed by the Spirit of God and receiue the names of things signified as the Bread is called the Body of Christ and the participation of the Bread the participation of his Body and that to this end that the religious receiuers of these holy mysteries should not looke to the nature of the things that are seene but beleeue the change made by grace in that they being Sacraments are not now common creatures but holy pledges and seales of our communion with Christ and all his Theodor. diol 1. blessings therefore the faithfull receiuing the one should rest assured of their participation in the other So reasoneth Saint Bernard A Ring is simply giuen for a Bern. de Carra Dom. Ring and it carrieth no further signification with it it is also giuen to aduance a man to some place of dignity and honour or else to settle one in the possession of an inheritance insomuch that he that hath receiued it may say This Ring is nothing worth but it is the inheritance that I seeke and ayme at After the same manner saith he the Lord drawing neare his death had care to set vs in the possession of his grace to the end that his inuisible grace might be giuen by some visible signe and for that end are all Sacraments ordayned QVEST. XII The outward Elements in the Eucharist are not Bread and Wine in shew but in substance The Sacrament of the Lords Supper was odrayned to this end that by the feeding and nourishing of our bodies by the outward Elements our soules might be assured of our spirituall feeding vpon Christ and of aeternall life obtayned thereby Now if we were willed to feed vpon the empty shewes of Bread and Wine and to cherish our selues therewith might we not iustly conceiue that we were bidden as it were to a Iuglers feast to haue our senses deluded rather then to haue our bodies nourished And what assurance could our soules haue thereby of their spirituall nourishing by the Body and Bloud of Christ Sacraments saith Saint Austin if they haue no Aug. Ep. 23. ad Bonifacium likenesse with the things whereof they are Sacraments can be no Sacraments at all Wherefore seeing the bare and empty shewes of Bread and Wine haue no true similitude with the substantiall Body and Bloud of Christ they can in no wise be the externall signes and Sacraments thereof QVEST. XIII There is no miraculous turning of Bread and Wine in the holy Eucharist into the very Body and Bloud of Christ nor any other miracle at all That which the Apostle auoucheth of the miraculous gift of tongues is true also of all miracles that is That they are for 1 Cor. 14. 22. a signe not for them that beleeue but to them that beleeue not And therefore miracles must be open and manifest euen to all such as haue but the sound vse of their outward senses that they may perceiue in them the power and might of the omnipotent God giuing testimony thereby of the diuine truth of Mar. 16. 20. that heauenly doctrine which is confirmed by such diuine witnesses Heb. 2. 4. But in the Lords Supper there is no turning manifest to sense of Bread and Wine into the Body and Bloud of Christ seeing the formes and also the qualities of Bread and Wine remaine there still and therefore in it there is no such miracle And verily Sacraments were not ordayned for Infidels to Act. 8. 37. conuert them but for the faithfull to confirme them in the faith And therefore as Saint Austin saith they may haue reuerence as things religious but they are not to be wondred at as things miraculous And whereas neither the booke entituled the Miracles of holy Scripture ascribed to Saint Austin nor Nazianzen intreating of the Miracles of our blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ doe mention any miracle done by him in his last Supper it is manifest what was the iudgement of the true and Orthodoxe Church in their times concerning the same QVEST. XIIII Iustification is giuen by the free mercy of God in Christ and not mericed by our workes As all other the good gifts of God so Iustification especially is freely giuen to the faithfull in Christ to this end that they should not glory in themselues nor trust in the worthinesse of their owne workes but in the most free and vndeserued goodnesse of God in Christ who is made vnto vs of God 1 Cor. 1. 30. wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption that he that glorieth should glory in the Lord. And that we should in no wise doubt of the truth thereof the Apostle vrgeth and inculcateth the same againe and againe By grace yee are saued Ephes 2. 9. through faith and that not of
named together it is first named and hath the primacie and as it were the right hand of all the rest by faith Christ doth dwell in our hearts by whom God and all his blessings are made ours 2 Pet. 1. 5. 1. Thess 3. 6. Ephes 3. 17. 1 Cor. 3. 23. Faith saith Saint Austine is Christ in vs and that heauenly Sunne is impaired or increased according to our faith Aug. in Psal 1 2â— And againe Faith is the very soule of the soule and the life thereof Aug. in Ioh. hom 49. Because it ioineth vs to Christ the Author of life and bringeth with it all other diuine graces wherein our spirituall life consisteth Aug. de Praedest sanct cap. 7. And hence it is that the whole Law is said to appertaine to faith if a true faith be vnderstood Aug. de Fide Oper. cap. 22. And in this sense faith may be called our whole sanctification for that it worketh our whole sanctification as infidelitie is called the proper and after a sort the only sinne because it is the originall of all vnrighteousnesse Aug. cont Ep. Pelag. lib. 3. cap. 3. For what good thing is there that is not obtained by faith By faith we are iustified Rom. 5. 1. By faith we are saued Ephes 2. 8. By faith we are made the sonnes of God Gal 3. 26. By faith we are incorporated into the heauenly Ierusalem and by it as by a cognizance or badge we are distinguished from all other societies The Catholike Faith saith Saint Austine doth distinguish the iust from the vniust not by the Law of workes but of faith without the Aug. ad Bonif. lib. 3. cap. 5. which those very workes which seeme to be good are turned into sinne Now if it were but in these respects faith might challenge the chiefest place of precedency and honour in the assembly of all her princely Peeres but much more may she doe it for that in her owne proper worke she is imploied in beholding imbracing and magnnifying of all the diuine excellences and perfections that be in God wherein consisteth the most proper and peculiar glory and honour of God By workes saith Chrysostome we obey God but faith Chrysost hom 8. in â—p ad Rom. entertaineth a meet opinion of God and glorifieth him and maketh him much more to be admired then doth the shewing forth of good workes Works commend the doer but faith commendeth God only and what it is it is wholly his for it reioiceth in this that it conceiueth great things which redound to his glory Wherefore no maruell that the Lord himselfe hath such a respect to faith that all his gracious and glorious workes and wordes tend either to the begetting or strengthening of the same For why hath the Lord accomplished his most glorious workes of the Creation Redemption and sanctification but that they might be testimonies of his goodnesse mirrours of his mercy seales of his speciall Act. 14. 17. 2 Cor. 3. 18. Apoc 7. 2. Ephes 1. 14. Cant 1. 3. Hos 11. 4. 2 Pet. 1. 13. grace and fauour pawnes and pledges of his fatherly kindenesse and loue that so he might draw vs and binde vs vnto himselfe and cause vs to trust perfectly in this his fauour and grace which is thus and thus ratified and confirmed vnto vs So why did our most blessed Sauiour send forth his Apostles into the whole world to preach and publish to all creatures these so ioifull tidings of such inestimable fauours as are contained in the Gospell but that the whole world might be conuerted to the faith and might beleeue and to be saued As for the same end hath he caused the same to be penned for all posterities that thereby there might be wrought a sauing Marke 16. 16. Iohn 20. 31. faith in the hearts of all the children of God euen to the worlds end Wherefore without all doubt faith is a most singular gift of God seeing â—e hath ordained such singular meanes for the effecting and working thereof yea it is a most rare blessing and hardly gotten seeing where these singular meanes are best vsed euen there ofâ—ntimes appeareth little fruit When Esayas more like an Euangelist then a Prophet had published this doctrine of faith euen to the Lords own people what was his owne testimony concerning his successe thereof Esay 53. 1. but this Lord who hath beleeued our report to whomis the arme of the Lord renealed Nay when our blessed Sauiour himself came in his own person to preach these glad ridings of the Gospell euen with the mouth tongue of the Son of God after so wise and powerfull a manner that his very enemies did wonder at the gracious words that came out of his mouth and were forced to confesse That neuer man spake as he did Yea Luke 4 22. Ioh. 17. 46. after he had wrought many strange and wonderfull signes for the further confirmation thereof yet all this tooke so small effect that by the testimony of Saint Iohn being an eie witnesse of all these things then also was fulfilled the former prophesie Lord who hath beleeued our report Yea their infidelity Iohn 12. 37. Marke 6. 6. was so great that our Sauiour Christ maruelled thereat And yet behold a thing more to be maruelled at that the Apostles themselues who continually heard our Sauiours diuine and heauenly doctrine and daily saw his wonderfull workes were yet so hardly brought to the faith that our Sauiour after his resurrection forced to reprooue them most bitterly for it saying Oh ye fooles and slow of heart to beleeue all that the Prophets haue spoken No maruell then that albeit Luke 24. 25. the Gospel be published and reuiued in these last daies before the comming of Christ to iudgement by many singular and excellent instruments yet when the Sonne of man commeth he shall not finde faith on the earth Luke 18. 8. The truth is that it is an easie matter to beleeue lies because they are agreeable to our corrupt nature but the doctrine of truth teaching the assurance of Gods loue in Christ is a strange paradox contrary to the common opinion of men We saith the Apostle â—each Iesus Christ crucified a stumbling 1 Cor. 1. 23. blocke to the Iew and foolishnesse to the Grecian Or be it that a slender assent and a formall approbation of the doctrine of faith proceeding from some slight apprehension thereof may bee somewhat generall where it hath beene long time taught by the Preacher and commanded by the Prince yet a settled perswasion proceeding from a sure and sound apprehension is vndoubtedly a strange and wonderfull worke of God Without all controuersie saith the Apostle great is 1 Tim. 3. 16. this mystery of godlinesse God manifested in the flesh iustified in the Spirit seene of Angels preached vnto the Gentiles and beleeued on in the world yea the agreement of faith with the heart of man is esteemed by Saint Austine to
be one of the greatest miracles of our Christian profession And verily if either we looke vpon the prophane worldlings we shall see them scorning at the assurance of the faithfull Sap. 2. 13. which causeth them to glory that God is their Father and hath adopted them for his Sonnes Or if we cast our eyes vpon the faithfull seruant of God himselfe when he is in any great spirituall conflict we shall soone see how ready he is to let loose the sure hold of his hope and to plunge himselfe into the gulfe of despaire because he is guiltie to himselfe of offending so good and so gracious a God by his owne manifold and great iniquities and sinnes Wherefore albeit we haue attained to such a measure of faith as was giuen by Christ to his owne Apostles yet had Luke 17. 5. Marke 9 24. we need continually to pray O Lord increase our faith and to say with the Father of the possessed childe Lord I beleeue helpe mine vnbeleefe Yea as Saint Austine admonisheth Tota opera nostra in hac vita est sanare oculum cordis vnde videtur Deus Aug. de verb. Dom. ser 18. Our whole worke in this life must be continually imploied about the cure of the eye of our heart whereby God is seene that is our faith The which lesson he learned of our Sauiour Christ who when the people demanded of him What they should doe that they might worke the workes of God Answered them saying This is the worke of God that ye beleeue Iohn 6. 26. on him whom he hath sent and so his beloued Disciple hath taught vs also This is the commandement of God 1 Iohn 3. 23. that ye beleeue in the name of the Sonne of God and loue one another as he gaue commandement Wherefore the calumination of the carnall professour and of the Romane Catholike made against the doctrine of the Gospell is vniust and vntrue which is that an easie way is laid open by the professours of the Gospell to life euerlasting and heauen set at a very small rate for that they teach that God so loued the world that he gaue his only begotten Sonne to the end that Ioh. 3. 16. whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting Yea our Catholike Romanists may iustly bee challenged for doing great and intollerable wrong to our Christian saith in that they so vilisie and debase the same that they make it common not onely to the reprobate but also to the very Deuils themselues whereas in Tit. 1. 1. Act. 13. 43. very truth it is proper and peculiar to Gods elect yea euen to such as are ordained to life euerlasting THE SECOND PART OF THEOLOGICALL LOGICKE The questions that are handled in this second part concerning the doctrines of faith and are cleered by arguments drawne from all Topicke places Are these QVEST. I. The Church is not alwayes glorious and notorious as a City seated vpon an high hill GOD would haue all men saued and come to the knowledge of the truth Arguments drawne from the efficient cause 1 Tim. 2. 4. 1 Tim. 3. 15. and by the voice of truth vttered by the Church the pillar and ground of truth he doth call to him such as are to be of the truth doth cause thē to hearken vnto the truth and to be led thereby into the euerlasting habitations Psal 43. 3. Now truth and falshood are nigh neighbours and dwell neere each to other for where God hath his Church the deuill hath his Chappell and their houses in outward shew differ little sauing that for the most part the fore-front of falshoodes habitation is gloriously set out garnished and trimmed whereas the doore of truth is plaine and homely Whereby it commeth to passe that falsehood in the right way of truth and righteousnesse the testimonies of the Lord are sure and giue wisedome to the simple For doth pure seed breed Tares or pure Corne And doth wholesome food breed noisome or wholesome humours Vndoubtedly light and sight preserue from stumbling and falling it is Ioh 11. 9. Matth. 22. 29. darkenesse and blindnesse that cause both Yee erre saith our blessed Sauiour to the seduced Sadduces not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God Euen as their seduced Fathers erred in their hearts because they knew not the Lords Psal 95. 10. Chrysost Hom. 3. de Lazaro wayes The ignorance of the Scripture saith Chrysostome brought in haeresies and a corrupt life and made a confusion of all things Wherefore it is a note of an euill person to hate the light Ioh. 3. 20. lest his deeds should be reproued as it is a badge of an haereticke to accuse the Scriptures of ambiguity and obscurity as Irenaeus affirmeth for that in truth they doe without ambiguity Iren. l 3. c. 2. and obscurity giue definitiue sentence against their haeresies From the which badge and cognizance if the Romish Church will be set free let her purge out of the bookes of her deare darlings the slanderous accusations of the Scriptures which are in them and let her giue a generall liberty to the lay people to haue the Scriptures in a knowne tongue that so they may the more easily attaine to knowledge and let her not any longer commend a blinde faith nor teach that faith consisteth rather in ignorance then in knowledge QVEST. IV. Not the sufferings or righteousnesse of any mere Man but onely of our blessed Sauiour both God and Man are of sufficient worthinesse to satisfie for sinne and to merit the inheritance of the Kingdome of Heauen As in Adam was the common nature of all men he being Arguments drawne from the materiall cause the roote all other the branches that so he might be a fit person with whom the legall Couenant might be made which was that if he would stand stedfast in obedience to the Law of God which was written in his heart and the which he was enabled to performe he should conueigh ouer his nature holy and pure to all his posterity and be translated from an earthly to an heauenly Paradise but if by his fall he stayned and polluted it he should conueigh it ouer to them stayned and polluted and make himselfe and all that by ordinary propagation came from him subiect to all miseries and woes So in Christ Iesus the second Adam was the common nature of man he being the roote and the faithfull the branches and vpon him Rom. 11. 17. Ioh. 15. 5. Gal. 3. 17. Act. 3. 26. was grounded the Euangelicall Couenant that the sufferings which he endured and the righteousnesse which he performed in our nature not for himselfe but for vs should be auaileable to all that are vnited vnto him by a true faith both for their deliuerance from that condemnation which was due vnto them in respect of their sinnes and for the purchasing vnto them of the glorious inheritance of the Kingdome of Heauen Vnto all